Celebrating the Holidays
by Emerith
Summary: A series of shorts based around ridiculous but completely true holidays. Prompted by the wonderful ladies of Perfectly Plum. Babe stories, but not planned to be Cupcake unfriendly.
1. November 22nd

Completely inspired by the wonderfully crazy women of PerfectlyPlum.

Disclaimer: Not mine, except when I'm sleeping, and I'm not telling you what I do with them then.

Rating: Fun, good, mostly clean fun.

A/N: I am a Babe, so is this story. That is all.

Today was November 22nd, and I was celebrating. A little known holiday called 'Start your own country day'.

I was sitting in my cubicle yesterday, nibbling on some leftover Dunkin Donuts Munchkins, and thinking about Thanksgiving while my searches ran in the background. While it's a great holiday where food is concerned, it's just not much fun. I like fun holidays, the ones where people give you presents, or candy, or everyone just has a good time. So I opened up Google and started looking up holidays. I had no clue there were so many of them. There's something to celebrate 365 days a year. I decided that I was going to begin celebrating something new and fun every day. If nothing else, maybe I could perk up the office a little.

I showed up twenty minutes early to work, excited to put my holiday plans into action. When I stepped off the elevator lugging my storage bin of supplies behind me, I was glad to see the floor was almost empty, I'd have enough time before shift change to get everything in place if I was lucky. I skirted past Binkie at the monitors, and said a silent prayer when he didn't look up from his work, I'd rather not have to explain this until I'm done if I can avoid it. Hehehe, it's gonna be so much fun.

There were only three search requests in my box when I stepped into my cubicle, so I plugged the first name into the databases and set to work on my Country.

First things first, I popped the storage tub open and pulled the poster off the top. Slipping outside my cubicle to the main floor I stuck the poster of a beach in Bora Bora up on my outer wall with a few thumbtacks.

Going back to my goodies I pulled out the folded up sheet of banner paper that said 'Welcome to Stephville' in big rainbow bubble letters. It went up over the back wall of my cube, directly over my desk.

Next was my friend Polly. He's a Parrot. Well, not a real Parrot, geez can you imagine what the guys would do to me if I brought a Parrot in here? He's just a silly little stuffed parrot on an ugly brown plastic base. I put a pirate eye patch I'd won on a game at the boardwalk on him, and a red bandana I'd found wedged at the back of my linen closet. The best part was the button on the back of the base. If you pushed it, and then said something to the parrot, he would repeat it back to you anytime someone walked past the sensor on the front. I'd programmed him to say 'Welcome to Stephville, please state your business and Border Patrol will be with you momentarily'.

A mind is a terrible thing when left to boredom, and endless searches in this office, had done just that. I pulled the final touch from the bottom of the bin, smiling wide to no one but myself. I secured the bright pink feather boa across the entrance to my cubicle with more thumbtacks. To keep the foreign dictators at bay until Border Patrol could see to their needs.

I sat down in my chair and checked the time, still at least five minutes until the rest of the day shift arrived. I reached down into my purse and pulled out my Ipod, setting the volume to it's loudest and selecting a Jimmy Buffett album. I left the headphones sitting on my desk so the music was loud enough to just be heard on the other side of my wall, but I could still hear over it. Reaching back into my bag I removed a small green felt hat. I popped it out and set it upon my pony tailed head, adjusting the little red feather in the side. I may be in Stephville, but today is still Robin Hood's birthday, have to honor the man somehow. The last trick in my bag was one of those little pink drink umbrella's. I stuck it through the little hole in the top of my takeout coffee cup, and sat back to await my fun.

Exactly four minutes and twenty seconds later I heard the elevator ding on the other side of the floor. Rubbing my hands together in anticipation, I listened carefully, not wanting to miss a second of this. They chattered loudly as they came across the floor, I heard Binkie talking to his relief for the day, updating him on the accounts. The sound of feet moved farther out into the main part of the floor. Suddenly the talking, the foot shuffling, it all stopped. Guess they'd finally taken notice. No one appeared to be saying anything, but I'd probably give myself a headache if I thought about how much silent communication was going on out there. I'd have to consider figuring out how to pull the main floors security cameras up on my computer later so that I could enjoy their reactions.

The silence continued for another three minutes until I heard the elevator ding again. I heard Tank's voice, talking to Ranger I was almost certain, but it's hard to tell without the normal hush that falls over the floor when he steps onto it. Hehe, I'd beaten Ranger to the 'Hush'.

"Why is everyone standing in the middle of the room doing nothing?" I heard Ranger question rather abrasively. Fortunately my hand made it to my mouth before the snort that was working it's way up made it out of my mouth. I covered with a slight cough, and listened to see what the men's reaction would be.

"Uh, Boss. We were just a little, uh, caught off guard." Lester stammered out. Sounded like he was about halfway across the room.

"Are you slipping Santos, do I need to schedule some field training for you men?"

Instead of Lester's answer I once again heard the sound of feet shuffling. Followed closely by a choking sound. I guess the guys had stepped aside to show the Boss what had distracted them. Just wish I knew who choked on their tongue, Ranger or Tank.

The sound of a single set of boot clad feet echoed through the silence in the office, coming closer and closer to my cubicle as I waited with baited breath. Close, so close. Three feet from the guard boa and Polly went off.

"Welcome to Stephville, please state your business and Border Patrol will be with you momentarily." Polly repeated in his crackly robotic parrot voice. I was dying of laughter on the inside, trying so hard to keep it cool on the outside, and fighting the urge to turn and see the look on Ranger's face. Instead I opened up my search program and checked the status on the one I'd started earlier. It was almost done so I punched the next name in to get a jump on things.

I heard Ranger shift behind me, and Polly started in again.

"Babe" Ranger sounded somewhere between amused and exasperated.

"Babe doesn't sound like business to me Ranger, sounds personal." I said, finally turning my chair to look up at him.

"My business Babe, is that I'd like to know what," He paused and looked around my cubicle just as 'Cuban Crime of Passion' came on my Ipod. My smile was a mile wide when he met my face. "Is going on in here."

"You heard Polly Ranger." I waved in the direction of the sign over my desk. "Welcome to Stephville. I've officially claimed my cubicle." I picked up my coffee and shifted the little umbrella out of the way of my nose while I drank, trying to look nonchalant.

"Explain." Uh oh, we were down to one word again. More feet shuffling was heard on the other side of my wall.

"Well ya see, today is 'Start Your Own Country Day.' I decided I'd start off small this year, and only annex my cubicle, maybe next year I'll work my way up to something larger, but I guess this will do for now. I mean, Stephville really doesn't need a lot. I've got music to keep me happy, an internet connection, my little happy umbrella, and I already talked to Ella this morning, she doesn't mind delivering my lunch to the border." I smiled up at him for all I was worth, even managing not to crack when the ear shattering laughter bubbled up from behind Ranger. He looked away from me just long enough to glare over his shoulder at the Merry Men. When he turned back there was a malicious glint in his eyes.

"You seem to have forgotten something Stephanie. You may have all that stuff, but us out here, we have the bathroom." He looked so triumphant. Dammit I really hadn't thought of that. I have to stop making plans half assed. I narrowed my eyes back at him.

"Watch it mister, we don't play games in Stephville. We may be all about relaxing and enjoying ourselves, but don't screw with our bathroom privileges, I don't think you'd like the cost. Besides, the Merry Men are easy to distract, I could have your bathrooms annexed by lunch time." I tried to mirror the triumphant look he'd sported just moments before but wasn't sure If I was pulling it off. I still wasn't sure, and was even slightly shocked when Ranger's response was to start laughing.

"Alright Babe, I'll tell ya what. Even though I have enough men to surround your borders and take you as a government hostage. I'll let you have your country for today." The smile that had accompanied his laughter slipped away, as the wolf slid across his face and his voice dropped to a gravelly pitch. " Tonight though, I'm going to claim my country, and I'm sticking my flag in the center so everyone knows it's mine."

Before my jaw managed to hit the floor he was gone.

Damn, I need to be careful playing with the big boys. I didn't bring any extra underwear to Stephville, and I'm pretty sure he just ruined mine.

The End


	2. November 24th

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Chapter 2 : November 24th**

This one wasn't going to be easy, but I was determined. Plenty to be done today, but nothing to be said for it.

After my last holiday stunt, and Rangers following Flag routine that night, I had decided I needed a day off from celebrating. Turns out I love his tongue just as much as he had said at Halloween. The man's got a flag like a… umm yeah, where were we.

I started the day off with a stretch and a silent yawn. That was easy, now let's see how much longer I can celebrate the 'Festival of Silence.' The dull ache in my thighs and stomach muscles made me glad Ranger had a late job last night and I'd spent it in my own bed.

I shuffled out of bed towards the shower, knowing this mornings ritual would take a wee bit longer then usual.

Thirty minutes later I stood in front of the mirror with a bottle of Aquanet in one hand and my hairdryer in the other. What better way to honor Billy Connelly then with big hair. Alright, not bad, I'm pretty sure if you measured that, I'd be approaching Connie's stratosphere. Next step was makeup. Showgirl style today in honor of Toulouse Lautrec. Big red and green and yellow swirls coming off the sides of my eyes, gold liner around the outer edges to really make it Pop. Shiny pink crème blush was rubbed all over my cheeks, and my trusty 'Viscous Trollop' lipstick finished it off. Half a dozen or so coats of mascara later I was ready to get on with it. I kind of looked like a Mardi Gras train wreck, but what the hell, all in the name of fun right?

I threw on my Rangeman uniform and headed out of the bedroom. Grabbing my bag and strapping my gun belt on on my way through the dining room. I waved to Rex and stood over the sink to eat my PopTart, figuring it was my contribution to 'Sinky Day' I just can't get that excited about eating over the sink, I do it too often already. Just before walking out the door I stopped and wrestled the picture frame sized draw erase board on a string I'd purchased last night over my Billy Connolly hair and hit the asphalt like a fat lady dropped out of the sky.

When I stepped into the elevator at the office I gave a little finger wave to the camera, and lifted up the board from my chest. Before I got out of the car I'd taken my little red dry erase marker and written 'Today is The Festival of Silence' on it in pretty little script. When the elevator dinged open to the Comm. Room I was met with silent nods and bulging eyes when they caught sight of my makeup. I just smiled and kept right on walking. Let them think I'm crazy, keeps em on their toes.

I managed to sit in my cubicle for a solid five minutes before the boys curiosity got the best of them and they sent a man out on recon. Vince cleared his throat from my doorway and I spun my chair around smiling and nodding up at him.

"Hey Steph, we, uh I mean I, I was just wondering what, errrr, how you're doing today.?" Wow, was the makeup that bad? Maybe Vince just had too much coffee this morning.

I twisted my board around and scrubbed it clean with my donut napkin. Turning it back around to Vince when I was done, I watched his eyes move across the words. "It's the festival of silence, and I'm celebrating Billy Connelly, and Toulouse Lautrec's birthday's. I'm Peachy! Let everyone know I'm not taking any calls today. Thanks Bye." It was hard writing all of that on there, and I was glad I had gotten a semi-big board and a little marker. When his eyes reached the bottom, and then bounded back up to mine with lots of questions in them, I smiled, gave a little finger wave and spun my chair around, going right back to work. The less time I spent in the presence of people, the easier it would be to keep my mouth shut.

I heard Vince back out of my space and march back across the floor. Ranger had said if I stopped in his office today at lunchtime he'd have a DVD of 'Stephville's security footage for me. I'd have to see if I could get a copy of today's too, it's probably going to turn out to be worth it.

The rest of the morning went relatively quietly, I only left my cubicle once. Made my way to the bathroom, and then to the kitchen to refill my coffee. I got a lot of sideways glances, and a few goggle eyes, but I tried to take it in stride. After all, I had huge helmet shaped hair, rainbow butterflies jumping off the side of my face and a sign around my neck. These holidays were just ridiculous. I could only expect the Merry Men to take so much without at least looking at me a little funny. Turns out Ranger had a morning meeting with a client, and wouldn't be back until our rendezvous in his office this afternoon.

It was 11:50. I reached in my drawer and pulled out the little black Sharpie I used every now and then. Stopping for a moment to smile down at my cell phone. Turned off and resting peacefully in the drawer. Really, any holiday that means I get out of listening to my mother rant is something I should consider celebrating every year. I quickly erased my board and wrote 'Happy Festival of Silence!!' on it. Hoping it would keep Ranger at bay, but really knowing better. I had Holiday Spirit, and willpower on my side though, and for crying out loud I was going to out maneuver Ranger somehow, someday, I might as well try to make it today.

He was walking towards me from the other end of the hall when I stopped in front of his office door. Not just one, but _both_ eyebrows raced each other towards the ceiling when he took in my getup.

He dropped one eyebrow and used it as a question mark at the end of his "Babe?"  
I broke his eyelock and looked down at my sign. "Festival of Silence? And you've made it this far into the day without any words passing those lips? Knowing you as well as I do, I almost find that hard to believe, but I've seen you do stranger things Babe."

I tried to scowl at him, but let's face it, Ranger just isn't a man you can be angry with. The minute I try my hormone's mutiny and I catch myself just before I start humping his leg. He reached past me, unlocking his office and catching me around the waist when I stumbled backwards from the rush of air when the door opened in. My mouth opened, but my throat managed to constrict around the gasp before it gained sound, and the holiday's were still intact. I caught a wicked gleam in Ranger's eye and before I could process any of the dirty thoughts it brought about I was whisked around the edge of the door and pushed against it, closing it behind us with my back. By the time he stopped I was halfway up the door, legs wrapped around his waist. One hand wrapped around the curve of my hip and the other squeezing, err supporting me from beneath. The button of his swat's was digging into the seam at the juncture of my legs and rubbing all the right, err, wrong places. The dry erase board crushed my breasts and my body pressed against the door when he leaned into my ear. He was not making this easy, why was I not surprised?

"How long do you think you can stay silent Babe?" His tongue traced the outer edge of my ear to punctuate his words. My eyes slid closed and concentrated on my breathing, fighting to ignore the fire he was lighting in my belly. "I've heard you make a _lot _of noise, and I'm pretty sure if I put my mind to it, I could make you scream my name without ever letting you down off this door." His voice was warm and husky, and it made the damp trail his tongue had left on my ear tingle , some other places tingled too. I was losing the battle with my breathing, my thoughts turning to the other tingles I associated with Ranger's tongue.

The Gods of Silence must be smiling on me today. I felt my head bounce softly off the door as someone knocked on the other side. Ranger removed his teeth from my pulse point, phew, and growled past my ear as he slid me down the door, and slowly down his body. I scooted behind Ranger when he yanked the door open to a blank faced Cal.

"Status updates on Ted Roberts. Tank asked that I bring them to you." I smiled and slid my way past them as Ranger reached out to take the file. Figure it would be safer to get that disk later, probably not worth risking accidental office sex. Mmmm Ranger… office sex. _Dammit girl get back on track._

Alright, back to the box. I took the freshly printed search forms from my printer and sat down at my desk to get started checking the data. I'd made it as far as the name on the top of the first sheet before there was a tapping at my cubicle wall. I spun around and there stood Cal, grinning like a naughty monkey.

"Requesting permission to enter Stephville on a peace keeping mission from the government of Caledonia." Cal said, standing at attention, but still with that smile in place. It was almost as hard not to laugh at that as it was hard not to moan five minutes ago.

I quickly grabbed up my board and jotted away, most of the last message having rubbed off on Ranger's shirt when he pinned me to the door. Good thing I'd used black marker.

"Permission granted to the delegate of Caledonia. Please enjoy your stay in Stephville." I smiled up at him as he walked in, and spun my chair back towards my desk while he hunkered down between me and the wall. I set my paperwork aside and nodded my head at Cal, hoping he'd get the idea that I was ready to listen to whatever it was he wanted.

"I just wanted to let you know Steph," he looked like he was bursting to get whatever this was out, the monkey grin went clear to his eyes, they were like the eyes of a giddy little child. "I get what you're doing with this whole holiday thing. It looks like it's fun, and I just wanted to let you know that there's something I celebrate today too." He paused to take a deep breath and his cheeks colored a little. "I'd like to tell you what it is, but you'd have to swear never to tell another soul, not even Ranger knows this." His eyes narrowed at the end and he looked at me very seriously. I nodded my head quickly and crossed my fingers over my heart, zipped my lips, and stuck my pinkie out at Cal so he knew I was right there with him. He nodded back gravely and stuck his hand out, locking his pinkie around mine and we shook our fists to seal the deal. Leaning back against the wall cal told me in a hushed tone why today was special to him.

"Before I was born, my Dad was in the Navy. Back in the 60's things were a lot shadier, in a lot of different ways. The way he tells it, he was part of a CIA op in Colombia and pissed off the wrong people. Years later what had been a guerilla fighter, was now a major drug trafficker. I was six years old when he tracked my father down. I'll never forget it."

His eyes slid away from mine to the wall behind my head and I knew he was lost in the memory. "It was 8:00pm November 23rd 1971. I was upstairs in the bathroom brushing my teeth for bed when I heard my mom yelling and crashing coming from downstairs. I hit the bottom step just in time to see them dragging her kicking and fighting with a hand clamped over her mouth out the front door. Somehow I managed to call my father, crying and screaming that the bad men had gotten mommy. She was just over eight months pregnant and I was so scared I was going to lose my mom, and my little sister too. It was three hours later when the call finally came. They wanted $200,000 and they would give my mother back unharmed. They gave my father a drop point, and a 24 hour timer started counting down. The drop point was nearly an entire state away. My dad might have done a lot of work for the government, but back then, that was still a lot of money, and certainly not an amount my father could get his hands on that quickly without raising red flags all over the place. He didn't want the government sweeping in and taking over at the risk of his wife and daughter's lives. So he came up with a plan. Years later he told me the plan was terrible, but it was the only thing he could come up with, he said he was 'Emotionally attached' and it clouded his mind. I didn't know back then, just how it was that my father came up with that money, but after I left the service he told me one night over a case of Lager."

Cal's eyes finally came back to me from the speck on the wall and I saw the amazement and incredulity shining out at me. "The next day he hijacked a plane Steph. He used every skill our government had taught him, some spray paint and stuff he found in the garage. He told them he had a bomb, convinced the pilot to land and have the cash and a parachute waiting for him, and they did it! He let everyone but the crew off when they exchanged for the money, and then jumped out of the plane after it took off again."

I sat dumbfounded with my mouth hanging open and no sound coming out. I had no idea what to say to Cal's confession the story sounded so familiar though. "They never found him Steph, and the money was written off by the Feds as a hostage negotiation. The very next day my mother was home safe and sound, and two days later my baby sister Mia was born. It was almost a year later before our dad was able to slip back into the country from Canada, but he said it had all been worth it to know that his family was safe." Cal's eyes got all mischievous again and I had to wonder what more there could possibly be. "When he registered for the flight, he used a fake name, the name he used, was D.B. Cooper."

"What!?" My hand was over my mouth just moments after the shriek had left it, but it was already too late. I'd screwed the pooch. So much for observing Silence. But seriously! To hell with it now.

The sound of feet screeching to a halt and bodies slamming into each other came over my wall and I watched it shudder and consider falling in on me before steadying itself. A full contingent of Merry Men crowded the door to my cubicle, Tank and Ranger leading the pack.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Ranger's eyes were scanning my cubicle, trying to figure out what had managed to break me where the Bat had failed.

"Nothing, I um.." I looked back and forth from Ranger to Cal, my eyes settling on the latter. "Seriously?" Cal nodded at me while he slid up the wall to a standing position and crossed his heart, to remind me of my promise, and tell me he was being honest. "Wow, just wow. That's cool."

My eyes swiveled back to Ranger and I pasted on a smile while I pulled the sign board over my head. "I'm okay Ranger, really. Cal was just telling me one of those silly childhood stories and I cracked. Now if you boys don't mind.." I eyed the band of Merry Men blocking my escape route. " I've had a lot of coffee today in an attempt to keep my mouth busy, I'd really like to get to the little girls room." And some time alone to go back over that story in my head so I don't blurt it out to anyone else.

I winked up at Ranger as I passed through the men on their way back to work. "I guess since I failed at the 'Festival of Silence' thing, I'll have to go with my backup plan for the rest of the day. Singing songs from 'Moulin Rouge' in honor of Toulouse Lautrec." I wiggled my hips the rest of the way down the hall singing 'Lady Marmalade' ever so slightly off key.

Well, the silence thing might not have worked out, but at least I found out my friends have some awesome deep dark secrets. Wonder what else they were hiding. Oh well, maybe next time. Maybe I could even give the silence thing another shot tonight, might put Ranger in the right mood, he does love a challenge.

The End


	3. November 27th

Disclaimer: I own none of the wonderful characters being toyed with in the following story. The insanity is the only thing I can lay claim to.

Rating: language, and a lot of innuendo. Babe story, no Joe to speak of, therefore no Un-Cupcakiness. I'm sure someone out there will find something in here offensive, so I'd like to say now, that it was completely unintentional, I just have a sick sense of humor, and it tends to bleed over and make Steph a little OOC.

AN: This one was a lot tougher to put together then the last two, and subsequently ended up not nearly as funny as the rest. I just really wanted to do it before I moved on. At this rate I'll never make it out of November. I'd also like to send a Thank You out to Ziggy Poole for being a willing guinea pig. And of course the rest of the wonderful PornStars who cheer me along. Love you All!

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Chapter 3: November 27th**

I was once again waking up alone in my own bed, I just wasn't quite as thankful for it this time. I'd survive though. Ranger had flown to Miami two days ago to settle some contracts at the office there, and hopefully spend some of the Thanksgiving holiday with Julie. His plane was due back in this morning, so I was sure I'd get to see him by lunchtime. I'd spent the intervening days gorging myself on turkey, and sleeping off the coma like state it induced. Now though, it was back to work, with a little something new to celebrate. I was certain the Merry Men would appreciate today's holiday.

I swung my feet off the side of the bed and cringed when they hit my cold bedroom floor. I waited for the full body shiver to make it's way out the top of my head before heading for the bathroom and my morning ablutions. Showered shaved and moisturized, I stood in front of the mirror, debating my makeup options for the day. No need to go crazy, in this situation, I think simple is the best way to go. Clear gloss, a few coats of mascara, and I was just about ready to hit the road. I pulled my hair back into a tight ponytail so it wouldn't get in my way today, and headed out of the bathroom.

Rex poked his nose out of his can, and wiggled it at me when I tapped on his glass. "Morning Rexy. Today's going to be a long day, here ya go." I said, breaking off a corner of the PopTart I'd grabbed out of the box on the counter and slipping it into his food dish. I freshened up his water while I finished my fake pastry, and decided it was time to really start the day. I strapped my Rangeman issued gun on at my waist and turned to the long black robe hanging on the back of my dining room chair. Ok, so it wasn't really a robe, technically it was a Kimono, and I'd borrowed it from Mary Lou. Her kids like to watch these silly Japanese cartoons, and last year for Halloween they'd begged and pleaded with Lou until she agreed to dress up like their favorite character, Ichigo I think his name was, and walk around behind them while they trick-or-treated carrying a plastic sword that was almost as big as her. All in the name of good fun, and it was coming in handy now, so what the heck.

The kimono was pulled on over my Rangeman uniform and I looked down at myself. It came all the way down to the tips of my sneakers, and I'm sure I looked pretty funny, but this thing was actually pretty darn comfortable. The sleeves came all the way down to my wrists, and were big and wide. It was wrapped almost twice around my body, and tied at the waist with a long black belt. Alright, no time like the present. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door, hoping to once again make it to the office before shift change.

Lester was smiling up at me from the main monitors when I stepped off the elevator. "Mornin' Bombshell, what are we celebrating today?" His green eyes were smiling and shining as he took in my outfit. I think the Merry Men are starting to get amused by my random insanity. Not sure what that says about them though.

"Today Flash, we're celebrating the birth of Bruce Lee." I smiled back at him, hoping my eyes twinkled half as much as his. I kinda figured that if Ranger was Batman, and he worked with the Justice League and the Merry men, then Lester was The Flash. From what I've heard he has just about the fastest hands in town, and not in a bad way. The day after Tank's Halloween party, Connie assured me the rumors were definitely true.

"I see." His eyes scanned top to bottom one more time, and a nod accompanied the smile so big his eyes were crinkling at the corners.

"Good, in that case, do you have any free time this morning?"

"I might, depends on what you have in mind Bomber. Whatever it is won't get me put in traction will it?" Poor Lester, he was getting to know me better. Good of him to be cautious.

I tried to look as innocent as possible when I answered his question. "Of course not Lester. I wouldn't want to hurt you, you're one of my favorites. I was just hoping you might be a willing sparring partner a little later this morning? I want to get in touch with my inner Bruce."

His eyes left mine and wandered the room while he consider the possible repercussions of allowing me to hit him, and having to hit me back. When he swung them back to me, I could tell he'd made up his mind.

"Sure thing. I'm off monitors in half an hour, and then I promised Tank I'd meet up with him to go over something. What do ya say we meet in the gym at 11:15? That should give me enough time to make sure all my affairs are in order." Cheeky little bastard.

I nodded and bowed at the waist to Lester before scooting off to get my work started. A short stop in the kitchen to grab a mug of coffee and I made it to my cubicle with a minimum amount of bug eyes pointed in my direction.

Oh goody. Twenty three search requests, and every single one of them was from that rat Rodriguez. I'd never met the man, but it was obvious he had something against me. Every single one of them was marked 'Urgent'. What does he think I am? A robot? One of these days he's going to face the wrath of my Holiday Spirit. I 'Eenie Meenie Miney Moe'd' a file from the stack while my computer booted up, and settled in for the morning.

I'd managed to print off five requests, read through the data on three of them, and set the programs up to run two more names before I had to leave for the gym.

Some of the programs Rangeman had access to were simply amazing. Last month I was reading through a search I had done on one Ziggy Poole. Ziggy was a male dancer down at 'Heather's Hot House' off of Stark. According to his bank records, he had inherited a decent sum of money from his grandmother a few months back. The next page I flipped over told me that he had almost immediately spent every last penny of the inheritance, and then some. On surgery. Plastic surgery. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing like an idiot in my cubicle as I read the rest. Last month Ziggy had gone into 'Sternum and Cleets Image Professionals' in downtown Trenton and requested Butt Implants, and a three inch Penis Enlargement. Made possible by inserting a sterling silver rod into the penis. _Ewwww_! Well no wonder he got caught stealing XL thongs from Victoria's Secret. None of the old ones would fit, and he had no money left to buy new ones. I always had to give myself a mental pep-talk when I need to pick someone up for shoplifting there. I feel for them, I really do, there's a lot I'd like to own from there too, I've just got better impulse control snort who'da thought. But dammit they drive the prices up for the rest of us! It's bad enough I'm already paying $50 for a bra, let's not try to make it worse.

I stood up and was retightening the belt on my Kimono when a shadow fell over my door. When I turned my head I found Tanks grinning face looking down at me.

"Hey Tank, what can I do for ya? I was just about to head down to the gym to meet Les."

"No problem Bomber, I just figured I'd poke my head in and let you know I was heading out to the airport to pick up the Boss. I just left Lester at the elevator, said he was heading up to his apartment to get changed and he'd meet you down there." He paused, smiling down at my Kimono. "I hear it's Bruce Lee's birthday today."

"It sure is Tank. The man left a legacy of awesome movies, killer martial arts moves, and a gorgeous but unfortunately now dead son. I figured he deserves a little honoring." I removed the gun from my hip and slid it into the locked drawer on my desk while I talked to Tank. I wouldn't need it in the gym, and I'd hate to forget it was under there and land on it.

We walked to the elevator in silence and rode down together. I gave Tank a little finger wave as I stepped off at 3 and the doors closed behind me to take him down to the garage.

When I stepped into the gym I was surprised to find so many of the guys in there so close to lunch. Half of the machines were full, there were two guys going at heavy bags in the back of the room, and a few people were crowded around a sparring match on the far mats. As my eyes finished their sweep of the room they landed on Lester standing just inside to the left of the door waiting for me. My eyes were the ones bugging out this time. There he stood in all his manliness. Completely bare-chested, and very possibly oiled, but I couldn't be sure. He was wearing a pair of loose black pants, cinched at the waist with a black cloth belt. I hope no one slips on the puddle of drool I'm pretty sure I just left on the floor. I shook my head and blinked my eyes to clear them, forcing them to meet Lester's when they reopened.

"The pants are left over from my Ranger days, I used to do some martial arts training. Figured I'd try to get into the spirit with ya." Lester winked at me and nodded in the direction of the center mats before heading that way himself. I trailed behind him, trying not to notice how well those pants framed his ass. Phew, I hope Ranger doesn't have any more meetings today, maybe he can join me upstairs when I head for the inevitable shower after this. Toeing my sneakers off at the edge of the mat so I matched Lester, I started to stretch, mirroring his movements across from him.

We both took up our crouched positions and started circling each other. Eyes twitching back and forth, trying to read each others bodies, expect the next move before your opponent knew they were going to make it. This went on for a good ten minutes before Lester straightened up and I watched his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

"Alright Tiger, since it's obvious neither one of us is going to give in, and we only have so much time, how about we just start off with some basic self defense moves and let it progress from there?"

I straightened myself up and shrugged in response. "What the heck, why not."

He walked across the mat and didn't stop until he was standing directly behind me with his chest pressed up against my back. His arms came up and locked around my biceps, squeezing tight. "How do you get out Steph?" You could still hear the smile in his voice, Lester smiled too much, gave me the urge to make him squirm.

I slid my hands up my chest, trying to wiggle my fingers under Lester's arms and loosen their hold. No give. I waited until I could feel him trying not to chuckle behind me. Arrogant bastard thought he had me. Just as the silent laughter was about to become out loud I made my play. I dropped my weight, hanging in his arms like a rag doll, as soon as I felt him start to shift to compensate for the weight shift I rammed the tips of my fingers up under his arms, knocking them away from me. My left foot swept between his, wrapping around his left ankle from behind and tugging, throwing his center of balance off even further. I felt his heat disappear from behind me and swung around into my crouch to find him lying on the floor on his back. I didn't even bother to fight the smile that took over my face.

He was back up off the mat in moments and grinning like the devil. "Getting better. How bout this?" And without another word he started running straight at me, never breaking eye contact. I waited until he was just out of arms reach before I threw my right arm out, palm flat, and locked my elbow. Lester's own speed carried him right into me, my flat palm slamming into his sternum with nearly bruising speed. A cloud of hot breath slammed into my face and Lester's eyes bulged out as all of the air was forced from his lungs. His arms flailed around for a moment before he stumbled backwards and fell back down on the mat on his back. He lay there on his back, mouth opening and closing like a fish, and his eyes still big and wide, his chest didn't look like it was moving. I rushed across the mat to his side, bending in half to look down into his face.

"Oh god! Les I didn't kill you did I?" I realize the question was a bit idiotic, but after his crack earlier about 'getting his affairs in order' I worried he'd somehow jinxed himself. Let's face it, I'm hell on Merry Men.

His eyes went back into his head, and his lungs seemed to kickstart again, but his face pinched up and his forehead wrinkled. "You can't take me out that easy!" He yelled as he launched himself up off the mat using nothing but his legs, halfway up he caught me around the waist and kept going. He didn't stop until my back hit the mat and a big "oooof" flew out of my lungs as his weight landed on top of me.

After a few moments of my sputtering Lester got the hint and rolled off of me to allow me to breath again. When I was able to get air into my lungs again I rolled my head to the side and met Lester's eyes. Laughter bubbled up out of my chest and before I knew it, it had gotten loud, out of control, and contagious. The two of us laid there on the mat, tears in our eyes, rolling back and forth holding our stomachs while the insanity worked it's way out of our system.

When I gained control again, I wiped a tear out of my eye and looked around the gym. The machines were now empty, the other match ended and the bags forgotten. They were all standing in a circle around our mat, exchanging money. I debated getting pissed for a moment, but instead I elbowed Lester in the ribs. He came down from his final fit of giggles with a sigh and looked over at me "Huh?" How eloquent.

"What are they all betting on?" I asked, moving my eyes back over the crowd. "It can't possibly be this match, neither one of us won. I'd say we pretty well tied that one." My eyes landed back on Les, waiting for an answer.

He looked like he might start laughing again for a moment, but managed to compose himself. "Nah Bombshell, not this match. They've started a book on your crazy holiday scheme. I'm pretty sure someone got rich today when you decided to celebrate Bruce Lee." The laughter he had been holding back finally slipped out. "Some of the guys ideas were great! Vince thought you'd show up dressed like Jimi Hendrix, but Zero thought for sure it would be Monty Hall, and you'd play your own 'Let's make a deal' at lunch. A few of the guys were hoping you might be celebrating the first public experiments with LSD back in '65, I'm really glad they were wrong by the way. I don't even want to imagine how today would have gone if you had. I thought for sure Tank would win though with his guess of 'National Bavarian Cream Pie Day."

My laughter joined Lester's and my sides started aching. "Oh man! Those are great! It was hard to pick what to do today. I had the afro wig left over from a few Halloweens ago, but no guitar. And Monty Hall? Come on! I thought about the Acid idea, but Dougie said he couldn't get enough for the whole office on such short notice around the holidays, so I figured why bother, ya know?" Oh I was getting a sidesticker. I took a deep breath and leaned further towards Lester, cupping my hand around my mouth so no one else would hear us. "If you'll share with me, I'll make you a few bucks." I offered, when he nodded his head I continued on. "Ella will be delivering six Bavarian Cream Pies to the kitchen on the 5th floor in about 45 minutes."

I lay back and continued to laugh as Lester's eyes bugged out and swung around to meet mine. He leaned over and slapped a big sloppy kiss on my cheek before launching himself up off the mat and taking off into the crowd, no doubt to find whoever was keeping 'The Book'. "You Rock Bomber!" He yelled as he ran away from me.

My eyes scanned back across the crowd just in time to catch Ranger's eyes as he stepped out of the throng. We kept each other's gaze as he strode across the mat towards me, stopping next to me and offering me a hand up. I reached for his hand and was swept up into his arms. A soft kiss dropped on my lips.

"I've missed you Babe, but you really need to stop abusing my men while I'm away." Ranger humor, gotta love the guy.

"Well now that you're back I can abuse you instead." I batted my eyelashes and tried to let my mischief shine through. "How bout you join me upstairs, and you can discipline me for being too tough on the Merry Men, after I've had my shower?"

"Sounds like a plan Babe, but only if I can join you in the shower, and you'll discipline me first." The wolf was out in full force. I barely even noticed the rest of the guys as we made our way out of the gym, and straight up in the elevator to the 7th floor. Mmmm Disciplining Ranger in the shower, this might just be better then Bavarian Cream Pie.

The End


	4. December 1st to 5th

AN: This chapter is actually a few holidays rolled up in one. There were a few smaller ones I wanted to get in that just weren't giving me enough inspiration for a whole chapter. I hope this method turns out as good as the last have. I'd like to thank my husband for the idea, and Wikipedia for the research aide. Ooooh, and half price after-Halloween candy sales. Cheers!

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Chapter 4: December 1st through December 5th**

The past month had been tiring, but here I was still alive, and still doing searches. While the printer squeaked away on the other side of my cubicle, I laid my head back against my chair and closed my eyes, thinking about all the Holiday Cheer I'd managed to survive.

I had decided that if I was going to continue celebrating random things on random days, I was going to need some co-conspirators.

My first recruit was Ella. I had quickly learned that a lot of the holidays were in celebration of my favorite thing. Food. Ella was the natural choice. She quickly agreed to be my helper. Saying she thought the idea was a lot of fun, and she wouldn't mind helping out with treats when it was on the agenda, so long as I gave her enough warning to plan her parts. She also thought it was a fun way to keep Ranger on his toes.

Next recruit was Tank. I had learned from Hector that he was the one keeping 'The Book'. We had talked and decided it would be best to meet each day before we left for lunch to go over the previous days bets. He said it wouldn't really be fair to hand the money out to the men without being certain first of what it was I had been celebrating. What they didn't know was that Tank was skimming 5 off the top and handing it over to me each morning. Really it only seemed fair, if it weren't for me they'd have nothing to bet over anyway.

The month of celebrating was kicked off quietly on December 1st. It was 'National Pie Day' and 'Eat a Red Apple Day' all in one. I put in an early request to Ella for six apple pies, made specifically with red apples so I could kill two birds with one stone. Five of them were delivered to the break kitchen on the main floor, and one was delivered to my cubicle nicely wrapped up in a box with a bow on top with the little medallion of 'St. Eligius' that I had dropped off at Ella's apartment that morning. When I went to my parents for dinner that night I stopped in the living room first. Settling the box in my fathers lap I explained that today was 'St Eligius' Day, and that he was the Patron Saint of Cab Drivers. He just smiled up at me with a "Thanks Pumpkin" and the rest of the night went by without any major catastrophes.

I wish the same could have been said about December 4th. No one could have been prepared for what happened yesterday.

I stepped off the elevator that morning shaking myself like a dog to get rid of the water drops that had settled all over my body. A shift in something somewhere had caused a slight warm front to pass over Northern Jersey. What probably would have been a blizzard otherwise was now a monsoon worthy rainstorm. As I crossed the floor to my cubicle my eyes were drawn to the windows that ran across the front wall of the Comm. room. The sky outside was a dark grey and the clouds were so thick it looked like evening not early morning. The sky looked angry.

I pushed on towards my cubicle, trying not to let it get me down. After all, it was 'National Cookie Day.' I knew that for the past two days Ella had been baking like a maniac. Chocolate chip and peanut butter, macadamia and shortbread and many many more. So many it made my mouth water. Starting at Twelve noon boxes would start appearing in the kitchen, dozens of cookies tucked safely away in each. New boxes would appear every three hours until Ella went to bed. We had decided to try and include everyone at Rangeman this time, not just the shift that was 'lucky' enough to work with me.

The storm had taken a turn for the worse halfway through the morning. Thunder could be heard rolling through the city and the wind battered the building. I had worked diligently through it all, the promise of all those cookies compelling me to work fast. When I heard the elevator ding at twelve on the dot I raced from my cubicle, trying to beat Ella to the kitchen so I could have first dibs on the cookies.

She had just laid the third and final box for the morning on the counter when a boom so loud I felt it from top to bottom sounded from outside. The building shuddered with the force of it and my mind automatically knew what that boom meant. I had looked down at my chest, to the medallion settled there on the end of it's long silver chain. St Barbara. Today was supposed to be her day. I sent up a quick prayer that I hadn't somehow managed to jinx a St. simply by wearing the necklace.

Ella and I caught eyes before we both made a beeline from the room, stepping back out on the floor to find every one of the Merry Men pressed up against the glass at the front windows. When we approached the back of the crowd Tank stepped back and motioned me in front of him, an unholy grin in place.

When I peeked out the window my worst fears were confirmed. There in the smoldering metal sat the proof that I was a hazard. St. Barbara forgive me. I had somehow done in the Patron saint of firemen, architects, mathematicians, fireworks, miners and sailors, who just so happened to be _against _lightning, fire, explosions and sudden death.

There it sat in the middle of the intersection half a block away. A firework truck that had obviously been hit by lightning burned steadily, lighting up Hamilton while errant fireworks lit up the angry clouds above in tandem with more lightning. I watched the spectacle right up until the sirens rounded the corner. When I turned to go back to my desk Tank was still there right behind me with that grin on his face.

"I really don't know how you did it Bomber, but that was freaking spectacular!" His voice boomed down at me, and each of the guys cheered along with him.

I stared up at him dumbfounded. "But.. I…it…I…It wasn't my fault Tank!" I whined. When the cheers turned to chuckles I snuck under Tanks arm and back to my cubicle. Only showing my face for the rest of the day when I needed the bathroom or more cookies and coffee. By the time I crawled under the blankets of Ranger's bed last night, I was actually too worn out to even think about Rangers 'Cuban Missile Crisis'.

When I awoke this morning wrapped in Ranger's arms with the Cuban missile jabbing at me, I was more then ready to celebrate the opening of the first Nudist Colony. Grandma Mazur would have been proud.

Two hours after I had opened my eyes I was showered, dressed, fed and ready to face the music. I knew I was going to have to stop in to see Tank to go over 'The Book' and would get razzed endlessly when I did. Fortunately I wasn't really celebrating much today, just Walt Disney's birthday. My plans for that were simple enough. I'd packed my Mickey Mouse underwear the day before and brought it with for my sleepover at Rangers. I was celebrating, the MM just couldn't see it. I had also spoken with Ella, she was going to deliver a chocolate Birthday cake around lunch time with Walt's name on it. Any excuse for Birthday cake right? It would also save me from having to tell Tank about my undies, but still make sure 'The Book' was correct.

I had settled into my cubicle with my first cup of coffee and gotten the first two searches off and running when a large shadow darkened my doorway. I looked up and found Hal occupying the space, a serious set to his features.

"What can I do for ya big guy?" I asked as I swung my chair around to face the door.

He stepped inside and looked across my desk at the calendar hanging on the wall, his eyes landing on today's date. December 5th. "Not much, I just figured I'd share what today meant for me, since you seem so into this weird holiday thing. I mean, it's not really a holiday or anything, but there was something that happened today." Hal's words got away with him and I suddenly realized he seemed nervous about whatever it was.

"It's ok Hal. I'd love to hear it. Since I started doing this I've been amazed by how many different things can happen to so many different people all on the same day. So what makes December 5th memorable for you?"

He lowered himself down into the miraculously clean guest chair that I usually had piled with research reports. His eyes fixing on mine as he leaned back.

"It was long before I was born. 1945. My grandfather was a U.S. Marine Corps Reservist. He had been away from home for four years doing specialized training for his field while my Grandmother was back in Iowa raising my Dad." He paused for a moment before going on and the nervousness seemed to have left his system.

"Now I'm not too clear on all the details, but this story has been handed down through my family since it happened. Grandpa Rob was temporarily stationed in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He had been helping with Navy training exercises for a few weeks and December 5th was just another day. A member of his flight crew backed out of the daily exercise, claiming 'a strong premonition of danger', then the Flight leader for the lesson Lt. Taylor showed up late, postponing their departure for 25 minutes. The entire day just started off uneven. "

"They had flown out over the Atlantic, stopping along the way to practice bombing maneuvers without a hitch. They were supposed to be crossing over Grand Bahama Island before the final turn in their triangular flight plan would bring them back in the direction of Ft. Lauderdale, when things started to go wrong. A member of the squadron radioed that his instruments had failed, and everything seemed to roll down into chaos from there. Radio communications were confusing for the next two hours while they increasingly became more and more lost over the open sea. Two hours after the problems started the weather took a turn for the worse and communications became intermittent. Four hours after they left Ft. Lauderdale, Lt. Taylor's last transmission was heard. He said they were running out of fuel, and ordered his men to take up formation for a pending ditch. They were going to have to go down and hope for the best. Nearly an hour after that message was sent, a plane flew out of another Naval station further north of Ft. Lauderdale, close to where the squad was believed to be. Three minutes later it sent back a routine message saying they had cleared their cruising altitude and were actively in search of what had by then been dubbed 'Flight 19'. They were never heard from again. Neither was my Grandfather's squadron."

His eyes had taken to roaming my cubicle while Hal told me his story. They settled back on mine now, surely reading the pity I couldn't help but feel over the story he'd just related. I was surprised when he started talking again.

"Twenty minutes after the search plane sent it's final transmission, a Tanker ship radioed in, reporting a collision in the sky, flames shooting more then a hundred feet in the air, and the sea on fire. It's location was a single degree southwest of where the Navy thought my Grandfather's squadron had been when they really disappeared."

The pity in my eyes was replaced with mild shock. I didn't understand how that was possible. If his times were right, that somehow meant that his Grandfathers squad had managed to stay in the air with no fuel for more then an hour. How is that possible? Hal's next words sent a shiver down my back and explained everything without actually explaining anything at all.

"In the early 60's people started reading more into the story. The flight path that was originally planned out for My Grandfather's maneuvers that day became known as 'The Bermuda Triangle."

To say I was stunned was an understatement. I felt so bad for Cal that he had never known his Grandfather. I had been so close to Grandpa Mazur growing up, I just can't imagine not having that. But the Bermuda Triangle!? How cool was that? No, not cool. Creepy and weird and just… Wow.

"I don't know what to say Hal. That's probably one of the most interesting stories anyone has ever told me." My mind wandered back for a moment to the story Cal had told me last month. Explains why those two get along so well together. They both have mystery shrouding their pasts. Then again who here doesn't? I was pulled from my musings by Hal clearing his throat.

"It's ok Bomber. I wasn't really looking for pity or anything. I just thought maybe next year it would be something for you to remember." He clapped a hand on my shoulder after standing and smiled down at me before leaving my cubicle.

So now here I sit, listening to the printer spit out searches. Wondering how many other hidden secrets were lurking in the Rangeman offices, and when I would get to find them out.

I think I'm going to set the searches aside for now and go do some research on Wikipedia. Hal had peaked my interest, and there were two more hours to kill before lunch and my birthday cake arrived.

Aaah the exciting life of a Research Analyst.

The End


	5. December 6th

AN: Shorter then the rest of the chapters so far, but by far worth it. This chapter steers a bit further away from the comedy and into 'Aww' territory, but it was a necessary step I promise. Many more holidays to come. Stay Tuned, and thanks for all your great reviews, the ego stroking helps make the process smoother.

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Chapter 5: December 6th**

I was jarred awake when the alarm started blaring. Pleasant surprise made up for it as I felt Ranger lean over me to silence it. Usually he was just showering from his run, or already up and well into his day by the time I rolled out.

When I felt him settle back in beside me I opened my eyes to meet his warm ones. There were lines of tension around his eyes, but a soft smile on his lips. I smiled back, knowing that whatever was on his mind and had kept him in bed, would be told if I was patient, and it was information that could be shared.

"Good morning Babe." Ranger leaned across the pillow and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. "Sleep well?"

I nodded my head in response.

"What are your plans for the day Babe?"

"I'm pacing myself today. I need to think about doing some Christmas shopping after work. Today is 'St. Nicholas' Day' the Patron Saint of Bakers. I figured I'd hit Tasty Pastry, Peeples, and then Dunkin' Donuts this morning. Pick up a few dozen, drop some at the Bonds office and the TPD then swing back here with the rest and settle into work. If I'm lucky I'll be able to find some with green icing, it's also Ireland's independence day." I smiled across the pillows at him. Flexing my fingers into the pillow in front of my face.

His hand came up from under the blanket and wrapped around the back of mine, warm and strong. He slid our joined hands across the pillow and lifted them to kiss the palm of my hand before settling them on his chest, directly over his heart.

"There's something my family celebrates today too Steph." I looked back up from his chest and found his eyes held a depth I might never get used to. "I thought maybe before you started your day I could share with you." Another thing I may never get used to. I had learned to love it though. These times when Ranger shared another little bit of himself with me. It was like getting a present. Another small facet of the man behind the mask. Sometimes it made me cry inside, other times it made me beam with pride to know this wonderful, selfless man. I nodded my head at him and settled further into my pillow, my hand flexing against his heart as I gave into the smile that I knew would grace my face until he replaced it with some other emotion.

"My Grandfather's story. It was 1956, the year of Castro's Revolution in Cuba. Juan-Carlos Manoso had once owned a flourishing Coffee farm near the coast. Times had declined though, and the family was facing serious money problems. When he caught wind of the coming turmoil he took his family and fled the country by boat on the night of December 6th. It was cold and the waters were choppy. My Grandfather and three other farmers navigated across the open seas and into the Florida Keys while my Grandma Rosa and the other women tended to my Father and the rest of the children. At the time they'd had no idea how lucky they were to make it out of the country on the very same day that Fidel Castro put his plan for power into action. All they knew was that they had to leave behind everything they knew and loved, or face a lifetime of oppression and cruelty." He broke our eye contact and this time it was his eyes that slid down to our twined hands. Squeezing mine within his for the briefest of moments before coming back to me, the warmth in them burning bright again.

"Grandma Rosa was five months pregnant with my Aunt Maricella when they made the crossing. She was ill and suffering by the time they finally made it to Little Havana, and the safety to be found with other refugees. Slowly but surely she was nursed back to health by the tight knit circle of women who were well versed in the condition of incoming refugees. My Aunt Maricella was born a little early, and with a weak heart, but a zest for life that surely made up for it. She embraced the American culture growing up and even now at 50 years old, she embraces every day as a new and beautiful experience.

It took many years and much hard work, but by the time my Father was my age, the family had regained the position and respect among the community that they had once held back in Cuba."

"My Father was passing the cigar factory in their neighborhood one afternoon when a small beautiful woman stepped up onto the sidewalk and right into him. She was so busy reading the piece of paper in her hands, she never saw him walking by. She quickly apologized, and explained that she had an interview at the factory, and had been so nervous she never looked up from the address she had written down, wanting to be certain it was the correct place. Her name was Maria. Two years later they were wed in the garden behind my Grandfather's home. The way my Mother tells it, Love blossomed right up out of the sidewalk in front of that factory. She never even made it over the threshold to her interview." Ranger was still smiling, but the tension around his eyes had returned and his body had stiffened slightly.

"You see Stephanie, for the Manoso's, change has been a hard and dangerous thing." My hand was squeezed inside his grasp again. "In the end though, it has always been worth the risk." His free hand came out from beneath the blanket and traced down the side of my face, sliding down to cup my jaw as his fingertips brushed against my scalp. "I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to risk some change, and move in here with me? Permanently."

His question caught me so off guard that my mouth fell open, and I stared at him in open disbelief. The uncertainty that had crept into his usually confidant tone as he asked shocked me nearly as much as his request. It was quickly replaced though by a chuckle as he slid his hand under my chin and lifted my jaw back into place.

"I mean it Babe. I want you here with me. The nights you sleep at your own place I fight not to sneak over there in the middle of the night." My eyes got big and watery at his admission. He slid his arm down from my face and around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest, trapping our hands between us. His hand sliding up and down my back comfortingly as he went on. "I want you here, in my arms. Every night when I lay down, and every morning when I open my eyes. Say you'll do it Steph, say you'll move in with me."

I snuffled a bit and knew I couldn't postpone my answer. There was no need to anyway, surprisingly I barely even had to think about it. I pulled back a bit and lifted my face to meet his eyes. I tried to project all the Love and Certainty I felt in my answer, not missing the tense set to his shoulders, or the nervousness and uncertainty that looked back at me.

"Nothing would make me happier then to move in here with you Carlos." Before he could say anything I pressed my lips to his. Leaving him with no doubt as to how I felt about the piece of himself he had decided to share with me.

The donuts were going to have to wait, it turns out I'm going to have more to celebrate today then I expected. I hope Ranger didn't have any meetings scheduled this morning.

The End


	6. December 7th

Disclaimer: Not mine, not that lucky. However if I happen to find one of the MM in my closet I'm keeping him for awhile.

Rating: My innuendo never seems to end… hehehe, get it.

AN: I seem to be losing my sense of humor or something. Maybe it was just the overall depressing nature of this day. More dead people and shit blown up then I could think about and still be amusing. That however was exactly why I felt the need to give Steph something lighter to celebrate today. It's all about trying to remember the positive things to celebrate everyday. The ending was tough to pinpoint, and the MM weren't agreeing with my muse. Anyway, babbling, yeah, on with the story!

**- **

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Chapter 6: December 7th**

**- **

The day after Ranger asked me to move in, I woke up alone in my own bed for the last time in the foreseeable future. My insides tingled when I thought about yesterday morning and everything I had learned. Things with Ranger were definitely turning towards the serious quickly, and surprisingly it all just felt right. Since the day we met he'd been leading my life in a completely new direction. The options he gave me were ones I never would have considered without him there beside me. I'd finally found a guiding force in my life that actually made me feel good about myself. Enough deep thoughts, it's still too early for all this.

I stretched my arms up over my head, and opened my eyes to my sun filled room. It looked bigger then usual. My dressers had been cleared, all the normal clutter that sucked up space in my room had been carefully packed away last night. Some would go into the storage rooms in Rangeman's basement, others would join me on the 7th floor.

Yesterday morning after Ranger's holiday tale and his request, he had spent hours 'Invading the Bay of Pigs'. I'm telling you the man took me clear up the Stairway to Heaven. We'd lain side by side in his bed afterwards, our hands clasped between us, discussing what Ranger called 'our coming merger.' We had both been eager make the change quickly, and had decided on today, as it was 'Enlightenment Day.' Instead of Christmas shopping after work last night, I'd come straight back to my apartment, followed my Hector and Ella, to pack my things up. Ranger had suggested their help, saying Ella was good at this sort of thing, but giving no explanation for his choice in Hector. I had a feeling it might have been that Hector was the only one of the Merry Men he wouldn't feel the need to kill for accidentally seeing my underwear.

I had taken the bathroom, Ella had taken my bedroom, and Hector had started in on the living room. By 9 o'clock we had most of my apartment packed in and called it a night. I had never before been so thankful for owning so little, but it made packing that much quicker. As soon as I saw Hector's SUV turn out of the parking lot I was on my phone, placing a rushed call to Mary Lou, letting her know the coast was clear and Lenny could bring over the equipment. Tomorrow was going to require a lot of preparation.

While I waited for Lenny I started moving around stacks of boxes, trying to make a path between the front door and the dining room table. When I finally made it to the door I spied my purse sitting on the table beside it and scooped it up, carrying it back into the dining room with me. I pulled out the sheaf of sticky labels I had printed up at the office and laid them out on the table, nothing left to do now but wait and hope Lenny had everything I had asked for. It turned out Lenny had a cousin who worked the carnival circuit and was willing to loan me a portable Cotton Candy maker for the night, as well as selling me the supplies necessary to make a whole lot of strangely colored cotton candy.

I shook my head, chuckling as I stepped out of the shower and reached for the last unpacked towel. I dried myself, thinking about the sugar stain that had somehow ended up on my dining room ceiling during the learning process last night. Making cotton candy was harder then it looked, but I got the hang of it quickly, I even managed not to eat it all. I dropped the towel into the bag of dirty laundry Ella had set inside the bathroom doorway, telling me she would take care of it today when my stuff made it's way over to the building. Ranger was sending a few of the guys from middle shift over to collect my stuff for me.

I plugged my hair dryer in, popping the diffuser on in a vain attempt to avoid the winter frizzies. Once it was dry I set the hairdryer back on top of the box it would leave in and selected a comb from the pile. I separated my hair down the center, trying to keep it even on either side, added a little gel, and slid a leather band around each side. When I met my own eyes in the mirror my 10 year old self was staring back at me, perfect pigtails in place. I never thought I'd find an excuse to have pigtails again, I thought as I swung my head side to side and laughed a little at my dancing hair. I knew I was well beyond the age of pigtails being acceptable, but since today was the anniversary of the day China had abolished the right to wear them, I felt the need to fight back against the injustice of it all.

I breezed through the minimum makeup requirements and then closed all the boxes back up, stacking them neatly beside the bathroom door before heading back into my bedroom. I looked around at my simple furniture. The same stuff I'd had in college. It had sat in storage for that brief blip on the radar that was my marriage to the Dick, only to come back and support me once again when the sham fell apart. I pulled the last Rangeman uniform out of my closet and suited up for the day. I looked over my shoulder one last time on my way out of the room, giving a sad finger wave to the sticks of wood that made up my now former life. They wouldn't be going into storage this time, I'd asked Ranger to have the guys drop the furniture at the Salvation Army. Maybe it will do someone else some good, but I wouldn't be coming back to it this time. There was nothing fake about my relationship with Ranger, he would be my safety net now, I'd never have to go anywhere but Home in order to find my comfort.

"Morning buddy." I said to Rex as I tapped on his cage. When he poked his nose out I dropped in a corner of PopTart for him and freshened his water. "Bobby said he'll be sure you're well taken care of later. When all the boxes get picked up he'll take you with him in his truck and bring you to me at our new home. What do you think little guy, are you ready to live with Ranger full time?" He just wiggled his whiskers at me and scuttled back into his soup can. Men. Never a straight answer to be had.

I strapped my equipment on and stopped inside the door to double check the two big storage tubs I'd filled last night. Everything was in place so I set my purse ontop of the totes and pushed them out the apartment door, locking it behind me for the last time and pushed on towards the elevator. I dropped my key in Dylan's box on the way out of the building and took a deep breath of the crisp morning Jersey air.

The totes glided out of the elevator ahead of me and onto the Comm. room floor. I caught eyes with Junior at the monitors and flashed him a smile. He returned my smile and added a thumbs up towards my totes. I guess he had money riding on today. Not even so much as a batted eye at the pigtails though, guess I was losing my touch in the shock department.

I settled into my cubicle, totes in the corner to be forgotten for the moment and got started in on my work. Timing would be important with today's operation. Feet shuffled past my wall all morning, the men going out of their way trying to figure out when today's craziness would be unleashed. I could tell they were starting to get antsy, but I wasn't going to give. I waited until I heard everyone start filing out of the room. When I heard the conference room door fall shut on the other end of the office I got in gear.

Junior was the only one left on the floor and he simply smiled at me when I darted out of my cubicle with my arms full of bags. One by one I stopped at each desk on the floor and deposited a bag. Darting around faux walls, weaving back and forth across the open aisle, pigtails swinging back and forth around my head and smacking me in the eyes. I was glad the floor was black tile and the skid marks from my boots didn't show.

I dropped one in Junior's lap and didn't stick around to see his reaction. Instead I rushed to Ranger's office, hoping I could get in and out without him leaving his briefing. I silently dropped his bag on his desk and allowed myself a moment to smile down at the picture that sat next to his monitor. It was the picture from our trip to Atlanta. I was all decked out in my Swat gear, we were storming a resort looking for one of my skips and the anger I'd felt that day was radiating off of me. When we got back from that trip and Hector saw the picture, he'd told me I looked like an Avenging Angel. That was probably one of the greatest compliments I've ever received.

I was back at my cubicle with my nose buried in my searches ten minutes later when the conference room door reopened and the men started to file back out onto the floor. I listened to Manny as he sat down at his chair in the cubicle in front of mine and picked the stick full of black cotton candy, wrapped in a plastic bag off of his desk. It wasn't easy to get them the right shade of black, but after playing with the food coloring for half an hour I had gotten it close enough. He read the words from the label I had stuck to the front of each bag. "Expansion of happiness is the purpose of creation" It wasn't exactly 'enlightenment' but it was from the same guy who had said, "The lock is only for those who accept it." So I figured it was fitting, and It would probably sound good around a mouthful of cotton candy.

Only one bag had a different sort of quote on it. I'd made Rangers bag special, it wasn't that the other quotes weren't good for him, I just felt there was something better. Rangers bag said "Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help." It was a Buddhist quote, and I thought it was perfect for our situation. I'd taken a black pen and added my own inscription below the printers ink. It said "Thank you for being my teacher. Love, Babe."

The End


	7. December 8th, 9th and 10th

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own any of the wonderful characters toyed with herein, they all belong to the marvelous Janet Evanovich. I do however have a date with Lester now that I've finished this and can squeeze him in.

Rating: Still with the innuendo, it never seems to go away for me.

AN: I know it took me long enough, didn't it? Sorry but the muse was having a really hard time trying to squeeze some funny in between all the sappiness that this chapter turned into. I'd like to thank Mudepoz for giving me just the incentive needed in order to kick the muse into gear: A Batman Thong! So here ya go Mud, hope it's up to par. This chapter is being dedicated to all my fellow PornStars!

Enjoy

Em

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Part 7: December 8th, 9th, and 10th**

There was an extra spring in my step as I made my way onto the floor. Waking up in Ranger's bed, correction _Our_ bed, knowing that I'd never have to wake up anywhere else again was a wonderfully empowering feeling. Knowing that no matter what happened now, I could do almost anything, and Ranger would be there for me at the end of every day.

The past two days had been relatively quiet. I'd celebrated small holidays each day, but nothing worth writing the papers about.

Well, ok, the one I pulled over on Lester _was _pretty good. It had taken a certain level of slickness, and a lot of help from Ella. On the morning of the 8th, I'd managed to sneak into Lester's apartment with Ella while he was in the gym running, and she was changing his sheets. I quickly reprogrammed his cell phone, and snuck back out with her. All day, no matter who called Lester, his phone rang 'Wild Thing' by Sam Kinison. It was just too perfect for the Playboy image that Lester tried to ooze whenever there were females around. The first time I heard it ring across the Comm. Room it took everything in me not to get up and dance. When Bobby heard it he turned to Les and asked if there was anything that he needed to tell him. That brought my laugh out no matter how hard I fought it.

Ella came down around lunch that afternoon with a sheet of brownies with two unlit candles in it, for Kinison, and Jim Morrison. She had replaced the usual birthday cake with a giant brownie since it had been 'Brownie Day'. It was also 'Take it in the ear day', but I was kind of afraid to research the meaning behind that one.. Ranger had a great idea on how to celebrate it though, so I decided to go with the flow.

Yesterday had been a true test of the stretch in my denim jeans. It doesn't take a whole lot to figure out how I celebrated 'Pastry Day.' If donuts were dollars, I ate my weight in gold yesterday. I hadn't limited myself to donuts either. There had been Danishes, Cannoli, Crème Puffs, and even Rum Cake. I was starting to feel bloated again just thinking about it. I'd seen so much fried fat and dough yesterday I'm actually considering going off donuts again.. Wonder what Ranger would think.

Today would be a semi-quiet day as well. No daytime holidays, just 'Lager Day' to celebrate tonight, and I plan to celebrate that one really well. Ranger had rearranged the schedules so that the rest of the A-Team would be free tonight to join us at Shorty's to celebrate. Ranger really was being wonderful about this whole Holiday thing, taking it in stride. The past two mornings I had woken up wrapped tight in his arms, that gentle, private smile he saves just for me beaming from his gorgeous face. He would kiss me good morning, and then ask what _we _were celebrating today. I guess the 'Holiday Spirit' is rubbing off on him.

I made my way into my cubicle, the mug of coffee Ranger had handed me on my way out the door in my hand, and stopped dead when my eyes landed on my desk. Sitting there, directly in front of my keyboard was a statue. About two feet high, and a bright shiny bronze. It was a woman, in what appeared to be a flowing gown, or Toga. She looked a little like the 'Statue of Liberty' with a few minor exceptions. Her right arm was raised holding a small torch. Her left arm fell down at her side, and where 'Lady Liberty' had held her book, this statue had a keychain machine gun dangling from her hand.

To say I was taken aback by the statue would have been an understatement. I nearly spilled my coffee all over the floor, but caught myself and set it on the desk. I reached out and ran a finger down the statue woman's cheek, she was smooth and cold to the touch. I stood on tiptoes and looked over the wall of my cube, scanning the floor for any loitering Merry Men that might explain my strange gift, but there were none to be found, which was almost as unusual as my present.

I brought my hand back to the statue and tentatively picked her up, slowly, half expecting something to fly at me from somewhere. It's not too much to expect the possibility of projectile gags from Merry Men. The statue was beautiful, but heavy. I turned her around in my hand, looking at the inscription on the base. "Libertas" it said. A little yellow piece of paper drifted to the floor as I turned the statue. I bent down and picked up the Post-it, it must have been stuck to the bottom of the base.

"Stephanie, today is 'Lux Mundi'. It literally translates to 'Light of the World', and is the celebration of the Roman Goddess of Liberty. I wanted to give you this statue in thanks for your role as the Light of Rangeman, you are our own Goddess of Liberty. Stay you Stephanie, always."

It wasn't signed. I sat Libertas in the empty space on top of the file cabinet inside my cube door, and wiped at my nose and eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. Stupid overactive tear ducts. It was so sweet though, I just wish I knew who to thank for it. Maybe if I bided my time, one of the Merry Men would let it slip.

I sat in my cubicle all morning waiting for someone to stop in and question my new decoration, but not a single person knocked on my wall. I knew Ranger was out at off-site meetings until late afternoon, and Tank and Lester were running visual inspections of the local high-end accounts until later too. I wasn't sure where Bobby was, but I hadn't seen him on the floor once.

I broke for lunch, grabbing one of Ella's sandwich's out of the fridge and a bottle of water. The label on the plastic wrap around the sandwich said 'Les/Bobby sandwich'. I assumed that meant it was the chipotle chicken ranch concoction that Bobby had come up with a few months ago. Good enough for me. I swapped the water out for a container of milk though so my tongue wouldn't end up on fire if Ella made them as strong as Bobby did.

When I walked back into my cubicle I nearly dropped my sandwich in the same spot my coffee had threatened to end up. In the same place my statue had sat this morning, was now a vase full of beautiful red, blue and purple wildflowers. I quickly set my food and milk down and leaned in to let their smell fill my senses. They were wonderful. My fingers closed around the little card envelope nestled between the greens, and as I pulled it free my eyes caught on the 'Babe' scrawled across the front in big masculine letters. A little thrill went down my spine. This was the first time I had gotten flowers since the Valentines day from hell. I was already so thoroughly in love with the man that I didn't think it possible to love him any more, but he was surprising me every single day. I slowly pulled the flap up and slid the card from the envelope, my fingers thrumming with anticipation.

_Babe,_

_I hear today is the day to celebrate You. I wanted to make sure you know, you are the light in my world. _

"_A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others". I'm amazed your heart still fits inside you._

_Yours Forever,_

_Ricardo Carlos Manoso_

The shirt sleeve wasn't going to cut it this time. I pulled a handful of tissues out of the box on my desk and slumped down into my chair, blotting at my eyes while I tried to read the card again, and thanking the Gods of Maybelline for waterproof mascara.

After I'd read through his words a dozen more times and my insides were permanently warmed by them, I picked up the vase of flowers and placed it directly behind Libertas on the filing cabinet. She hid the vase but the flowers filled out above and behind her, forming a halo of beautiful color around her bright shiny body. With a happy sigh I sat back to finish my work for the day, and eat my lunch, my eyes frequently drawing back to my amazing gifts.

At 4 o'clock I heard the hush that signals Ranger's arrival fall across the floor. I listened as his boots echoed through the silence, moving across the floor. His door opened and closed, and I sank back in my chair again. I'd give him time to get settled in before I would go thank him for the gift.

I managed to wait ten minutes before my impatience got the best of me. I didn't hesitate the slightest as I made my way across the floor and knocked soundly on his door. A gruff "Enter" was all I heard from the other side. I opened the door to find Ranger ensconced in his chair behind his desk. Hands folded on the blotter in front of him. He had the blank face in place until our eyes met, and then the tension eased from his features, replaced by a softness I knew not many people ever got to see. Without a word he lifted his hands from his desk, slid his chair back and held his arms out towards me. I pushed the door shut behind me, and made my way to him.

Settling myself sideways in his lap, I wrapped one arm around his shoulders and the other played with his longer then usual ponytail. He had been debating getting it cut months ago, but my declaration that I thought he got sexier the longer it got stopped him in his tracks. My hand moved around from his hair to the small, perfectly smooth patch of skin that had been uncovered when he removed his tie and undid the buttons at the top of his impeccably tailored suit. I leaned forward and kissed both of his cheeks, and eyelids before slanting my mouth over his. Despite the fire quickly igniting in my belly, and the throbbing I could feel under my thighs, I kept the kiss light and sweet, pulling back before his intensity could pull me under.

"I just wanted to say thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful, and so was your card." I kept my eyes closed, and leaned my forehead against his while I spoke.

"No need to thank me Babe, and the flowers pale in comparison to you."

I pulled back and smiled at him despite the slight blush coloring my cheeks. "So how did you know about today's holiday? Even I didn't know about it. Does it mean you know who left the statue on my desk? The note with it wasn't signed and I've been dying to know who it was all day so I can thank them."

"Can't say Babe. If they wanted you to know, you'd know." He was smiling in that smug way of his that told me he had all the information I wanted, but wasn't going to get it.

"I see. Well I guess I'll have to wait until they're ready to tell me." The hell I would, I was going to pour Lager down Merry Men's throats tonight and get all the dirt I could.

I slid from his lap, trailing my fingers across his cheeks, settling them under his jaw and ducking back in for one last drugging kiss. When I pulled back there was a smile a mile wide on his face. "I better go, lots to get done before quitting time." I added an extra swing to my hips on my way out of his office.

The next two hours dragged by with near painful slowness. Men came and went in and out of the office, but still not a single knock on my wall. At 6pm on the dot I shut my computer down, collected my statue and flowers and made my way up to the apartment. Ranger was still in the office so I used my time wisely and jumped in the shower, dressed, and readied myself to go out. When I emerged from the bathroom Ranger was just stepping out of the dressing room. His suit had been mostly removed, only the well cut pants remaining. They clung to his hips, and with each step he took closer to me I could see the material stretching and tightening around his muscular thighs. He slipped a finger under my chin and tilted my lips up to his, tracing them gently with his tongue before pulling my entire body flush with his and kissing my cares away. When he finally pulled back we were both panting heavily and I'm positive my eyes were telling him exactly what I wanted him to do to me. No such luck.

"Give me ten minutes Babe, I just want to clean up a bit and then we can head out." He was through the bathroom door and clicking it in place behind him before I could voice my disappointment at the lack of nookie.

We had just sat down at the table and ordered our first round of Guinness Lager's when a knot of rowdy Merry Men tumbled through the door to join us. Tank, Bobby and Lester were still dressed in their uniforms, but you could tell by their joking and shoving that they were well off duty, or maybe just a little off. It looked like every non-working Rangeman was pouring into the building behind them. Hector was there, as well as Manny, Hal, Cal, and Ram. It looked like the only one they'd left behind to man the fort was Binkie, I guess Ranger was planning on a slow night at the office.

Tank dragged a second table across the floor and pushed it right up next to ours, sliding in next to Ranger against the wall once it was in place. The waitress returned with beers in tow for Ranger and me, and the rest of the guys ordered theirs. The conversation and joking was too boisterous to follow until the waitress returned with their drinks. Ranger told her to wait five minutes, and then bring another round, and we all settled in to enjoy our holiday treat.

"Who wants to play Bullshit?" Lester piped up from the other side of the table, a mischievous smile on his handsome face.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but the rest of the guys were all nodding, so I bobbed my head along with them in hopes that an explanation would be forth coming.

"Alright." Lester said, "Everybody needs to pick a type of shit." He pointed to Tank directly across from him.

"Elephant Shit." Tank said. Lester's finger went to Ranger next.

"Bat Shit." I tried not to snort at how fitting that choice was. I was the next one at the end of Lester's finger.

"Ummmm. Bird Shit." It sounded good.. Right? His finger turned to Hector next to me.

"Ape Shit" Hector was smiling as he gave his response. Lester moved on to the next

"Dinosaur Shit." Cal said.

"Sheep Shit" Was Hal's choice.

"I will take Monkey Shit." Lester said before his finger turned to Manny next to him.

"Cat Shit."

"Dumb Shit." Was the final response from Ram at the other end of our tables.

"Alright, I'll start things off, Bomber you just follow along and you'll pick it up in no time." Lester sent his dazzling smile my way. "Somebody Shit in the parlor" Lester announced loudly.

"Who Shit?" All of the guys yelled back in unison.

"Elephant Shit!" Was Lester's much louder then necessary response.

"Bullshit!" Tank yelled back across the table at them.

"Who Shit?" The guys all yelled back at him.

"Cat Shit" Tank Boomed out.

"Bullshit!" Came from Manny shot back at him.

"Who shit?" Was once again yelled back from around the table.

Things continued in this pattern, and I even joined in, until Ram was accused. He paused a moment before responding to his 'Who Shit?', and when he hesitantly answered it was "Duck Shit?" that came from his mouth.

Lester threw his hands up in the air, laughing from deep down inside. "You screwed it first Ram, now chug that shit!" And he pointed back and forth between Ram and his untouched mug of beer. Ram lifted the glass to his lips, threw his head back and chugged. I couldn't help being mesmerized by the muscles in his throat flexing as he drank. As he set his glass back down our waitress materialized at his side and started offloading a full tray of fresh beers.

The game went on and on, Merry Man after Merry Man slamming back beers as they all became too inebriated to remember what kinds of shit were sitting at our table and what ones weren't. It was just past 10 o'clock when the game finally tapered off and we all just gave in and started drinking whatever was left in our glasses. Lester was the first to wander off, a leggy blonde at the bar had caught his attention and he'd gone into fullout drunken Playboy mode. When her equally leggy brunette friend emerged from the bathrooms and joined them at the bar, Bobby was quickly out of his seat and slinging a friendly arm across Lester's shoulder. Hal and Cal made their way to the back room for a game of pool, Tank and Hector followed behind hoping to find the dartboard empty. Ram stumbled his way to the bathroom, and I was left alone at the table with Ranger and Manny.

"So Steph," Manny piped up from his spot at the other end of the table. " Did you like your gift?" There was a gleam of pride in his eyes as he spoke.

I'm sure the shock was evident on my face. "That was you Manny!? It was so sweet, the statue is gorgeous, and the sentiment, well.." I didn't really know how to explain the way it made me feel, knowing that the guys thought of me that way. It was probably the large amount of alcohol I had ingested that prompted my next move. I rose from my seat at Ranger's side and made my way around the table. When I came up beside Manny I leaned down and wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, pressing my lips into his cheek. "Thank you so much Manny, you brightened my morning, and I'm going to find a place of honor in the apartment for Libertas to make home." His arms wrapped around my waist and he returned my hug.

"No need to thank me Steph, I was just being truthful." He pulled back and smiled up at me. "You are my first wife after all, you'll always have a place in my heart."

I returned his smile, and when I turned to go back to my seat I walked right into Rangers chest. His arms wrapped low around me, steadying me on my feet. " I think it's time we get you home Babe. Binkie just called, he's out in the lot waiting to take us back to the building." Aaah, so that's the plan, I hadn't even considered that. "Can't have any of us driving off the road, it would ruin the holiday." Ranger said, reading my lack of thought off of my face. "Come on, once he gets us back he can come back here and pick the rest of the guys up off the floor." He tugged on my arm, pulling me into his body and tucking me in against his side before marching us both towards the doors and out into the cold December night.

The night ended perfectly. I'd managed to find out who my secret gift giver was, and by the time we made it up to the apartment and into the living room, half of our clothes were already scattered across the floor. We fell into bed together, skin slipping and sliding in tingling friction, and continued to celebrate 'Take it in the ear day'. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I _Really_love his tongue..

The End

Ps: The quote Ranger used on his card is from The Wizard of Oz, straight from the Wizard himself.


	8. December 12th

Disclaimer: yadda yadda yadda, not mine, JE's..

Rating: Eh… smut.. But not really smut, really just the inference of smut…

A/N: This chapter is based on a Holiday I myself have claimed for the month of December. Anyone interested in participating should take up their virtual pens when December 1st hits! And alright, I don't know if anyone's caught onto this yet or not, but I like to think all of my fics so far fit into their own little universe, shown in snippets through my pieces. It starts with 'Inside of You' then the next peek is 'She's a Rebel' followed quickly by 'Op. Trick-Or-Treat' and this story picks up the month after that. Just a little snippet for anyone interested.

Reviews are begged, even pleaded for. They keep my head inflated, LOL

Enjoy!

Em

**Celebrating the Holidays**

**Part 8: December 12th**

Today was going to be a mellow day. There was no extra bounce when I came on the floor today, more like an upright crawl. Turns out no matter how soft our bed may be, it's just not the same without Ranger in it. He'd been called away early yesterday afternoon to Boston to meet with a client, and as much as I was used to work keeping us apart at times, it didn't make it suck any less. We'd spoken briefly last night as I was crawling in bed, but it was a sad substitute for having him there next to me. He was due back late this afternoon, and I'd decided instead of celebrating 'Ding-A-Ling Day', I was going to sulk in my cubicle and wait for my Cuban Sex God to return.

I had just finished setting my first two searches for the day in motion, and decided I'd waste some time and check my email. I slouched back in my chair and popped the program open.

4 new messages. Hmmm.

A purity test from Connie.. Not sure I wanna look at that at work.

An ad for Penis Enlargement, no thanks I'll leave that to Ziggy Poole. SPAM.

What else.. A background request from Silvio in Miami for a New Hire. Ranger had recently asked Silvio to start sending all New Hire checks to me first, he claimed I had an ability to 'sniff out the psychos'. I decided to take that as a compliment, and so far had saved Rangeman the trouble of hiring a man who was wanted for murder in Cairo. As much of an asset as he might have been, it's never good to hire a man when there's still a 'Wanted' sign hanging over their head. All kinds of baggage. Ranger had simply told him to work out his issues and then get back in touch… I was fairly certain I'd be running his search again one day. Alright, punched that search in, now back to the mail.

Last one, from MaryLou.

_I've decided to waste a few hours on AIM this morning instead of cleaning Steph. If you get bored at work, pop on and visit with me!_

_Love,_

_Lou_

Hmmm, a tempting offer… pretend to work while my thoughts are truly drifting along on a cloud of naked Ranger.. Or chat with MaryLou? I suppose I should probably go talk with her since the other option might lead to a permanent stain in my desk chair.

I quickly deleted the mail then closed down the program and opened AIM up. It had just barely finished loading before a window popped up.

**MaryLouWho**: Steph! I'm so glad you got my email!

I sighed, knowing she was far perkier then I was capable of pretending to be right now.

**WndRWmN42**: yeah lou, not much better to do while my searches run so I figured I'd pop on and say hello.

**MaryLouWho: **That's great though, cuz I have something I want to tell you about, it's right up your alley with this Holiday stuff you've been doing.

**WndRWmN42:** oh yeah, what's that? I'm not really celebrating anything today, my holiday spirit went to Boston with Ranger.

**MaryLouWho: **There's this mommy group I'm a member of online, and one of the girls declared her own holiday for the entire month of December.

**WndRWmN42:** LOL that's great! What holiday did she declare?

**MaryLouWho: **She writes in her spare time, so she's decided that December is 'National Smut Writing Month' or Smut-Cember for short. So maybe you could use your spare time today to celebrate by writing smut?

**WndRWmN42:** ummm, Lou, what the hell is 'smut'?

**MaryLouWho: **Gasp Steph, what planet are you from? LoL Smut is porn, but for women, and in tasteful written form.. Not something I thought I'd have to explain to you.

**WndRWmN42:** Geeez Lou, you make me sound like a viscous trollop or something… written porn for women huh? How would one go about writing smut…?

**MaryLouWho: **You are surrounded by hot beefcakes all day, and you have to ask me how to write about it? Just write about your Merry Men, or hell even Ranger.

**WndRWmN42:** Are you kidding!? I'd die of embarrassment if they ever found out I did that!

**MaryLouWho: **I'm not saying you should run out and have paperbacks made for crying out loud! You don't have to do _anything _with it, the writing part is what the holiday is supposed to be about, it's therapeutic or something. Of course, you could always email it to me..

**WndRWmN42:** LOL, I'll think about it, but I should really get going, my searches are done and printed off so I should get to work. I'll let you know how it goes. Ciao

I logged the program off quickly before she could respond. She'd already given me enough to think about. Hmmmm… Smut huh? I wonder if I could do it.

I put those thoughts aside for the time being and focused back on my work. Swinging my chair around to retrieve the first two searches and setting the next two in motion before I settled in with my highlighters and red pens to go over the printouts.

Just after my lunch of a hot 'Les/Bobby sammich' I was settled back in my chair watching the search program steadily run. The lack of action was what I was blaming when my hand drifted to the mouse and opened up my word program. Can I really do this? _You can do anything, _I told myself. Yeah, but really.. This? Well, only one way to find out.

I tapped away at the keys with a speed that surprised even myself for the next 45 minutes. When I finished I couldn't believe I was actually looking at two entire pages of my own words. And they were _hot _words!

I popped my email program back open before I could lose my nerve and copied the entire document into an email. I figured I'd better include a note so MaryLou wouldn't open her email directly to the dirty parts.

_Here ya go, I gave 'National Smut Writing Month' my best shot. I have to admit, it was certainly more fun to write then I was expecting, and it all came out so easily. Hehe, I guess that probably says something doesn't it? LoL, get back to me and let me know what you think!_

_Love,_

_Steph_

Stopping one last time to let my eyes run over the words. Yup, it was all there. The sweet sweaty dream I'd had a few months back. When we first got back from my trip to the Atlanta office. Ranger had gone in the wind for a week on something that I didn't have clearance to know about. I'd spent the entire week trying not to jump everything that moved. Our hormones were virtually uncontrollable when we were together, and to lose that so suddenly and for an entire week.. Well, it almost got ugly. The night before he returned though, I'd had an insanely hot dream about finally getting to have that 'office sex' we kept trying to avoid. In reality 'office sex' would just cause untold problems. In my dream however, when Lester walked in on us by accident, well, it went in a _whole _different direction. Geez, I was getting myself worked up just rereading it. MaryLou was right, writing it was something, but I'm not sure therapeutic was the right word. I was beginning to understand why someone wanted to devote an entire month of the year to Smut.

I opened up my address book to input MaryLou's email address into the box. The mouse was just hovering over her name when a throat cleared behind me and I noticed the shadow over my desk just before the word "Babe." was expelled on a breath. All at once I jumped in my chair, smacking my knees into the bottom of my desk. One hand flew up and smashed into the keyboard while the other jerked the mouse around, smashing buttons trying to make the screens go away.

When I finally swung around to Ranger my face was flushed and my eyes must have looked like goose eggs.

Being Mr. calm and in control that he was he simply raised an eyebrow and glanced for a second over my shoulder at my blank monitor, then brought them back to my own. A question and a hint of amusement shining out of brown pools. The eyebrow stayed up as he extended his hand toward me.

I pulled my eyes from his, instead focusing on his hand as I placed mine inside it's larger grip. Stuttering out my answer to his unspoken question as he pulled me from my seat and into his arms.

"I ummm was…. Uhhhhh MaryLou made me do it…" I trailed off as the intensity of his eyes finally brought mine up to meet them. The melting was almost instantaneous. There was the softness that only appears when he hasn't seen me in 24 hours, but it was tinged with a rawness that made me wonder just how long he'd been standing there. My body reacted to him of it's own volition, my hand raising to rest gently against his cheek. "I missed you Carlos", came the whisper as my mouth joined the revolt.

I watched as the corners of his eyes lifted while he tried not to smile and decided to go with it. My voice dropped a little huskier before I continued, "I couldn't stop thinking about you while you were gone. All last night while I was in bed alone, and all this morning you ran through my mind naked while I was supposed to be working."

Rather suddenly the smile shifted from his eyes to his mouth and it wasn't a 'Friendly' smile. No, this was the Big Bad Wolf.

"That sounds like a lot to make up for Babe. Why don't you come upstairs with me and we'll see what I can do to start repaying you?" I didn't get the chance to nod before he was picking up the duffle bag I'd failed to notice at his feet and tugging me towards the elevators. I had enough sense to break free for a minute and swing back to shut down my computer while he stood outside my door all but tapping his foot on the floor with fire in his eyes.

When I stood beside him in the elevator, watching him thrum with energy as his eyes worked their way over me again and again, I couldn't help but wonder just what the outcome of Smut-Cember might be.

**The end**….for now


End file.
